Safaricom Marathon 2013

The 14th annual Safaricom Marathon and Half Marathon will take place at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, 140 miles north of Nairobi, on Saturday 29th June 2013. Organised by Tusk and supported by Safaricom, this fundraising event will host 1,000 runners from over 20 different countries. The Safaricom Marathon is regarded as one of the toughest marathons in the world. However, runners of all abilities take part, from fun runners, walkers and amateurs, to professionals like Paul Tergat the Kenyan international and former world record holder.

The Safaricom Marathon allows participants from all over the globe to compete in an internationally acclaimed event whilst running through some of Africa’s most breath-taking scenery. As a result, it has developed into one of the country’s major sporting events with a reputation for being one of the ten “must do” marathons in the world.

The Event

There are two race categories; The Full Marathon, which is an individual event, and the Half Marathon, a team event, to which a minimum of five and a maximum of ten runners can enter per team. Both races start at 7.15am at the southern end of the conservancy. The course is set on dirt roads that take the runners on an undulating 21km course through the reserve, across savannah plains, along river banks and through acacia woodland before finishing close to Lewa’s headquarters.

Half Marathon runner completes one loop of the course, Full Marathon runners, two. The route is watched over by a large and experienced team of armed rangers, with two helicopters and a spotter plane in the air throughout the race. Water stations and first aid points are situated every 2.5km along the course. Medical support at the finish is provided by AMREF - the flying doctors, the Kenya Red Cross and local hospitals. On completion of the race each runner is presented with a medal and goody bag. Prizes for race and age group category are awarded at a prize giving ceremony at 12.30pm.

Fundraising

The impact of the event has been huge and the benefits are very tangible. Since its inception the event has raised over $3.8 million. Tusk and Lewa have always shared a common goal to use wildlife conservation as a catalyst to alleviate poverty, reduce conflict, and improve education and livelihoods in rural areas rich in biodiversity.

The Safaricom Marathon is unique and must not be viewed like the many City marathons held around the world. This event has been established and organised every year by Tusk Trust as the charity's own flagship fundraising initiative to support pre-defined conservation, education and community projects supported by Tusk in Kenya. We therefore ask all prospective runners to note that by entering this event, they are required to raise funds for the Safaricom Marathon's existing beneficiaries. Unfortunately, Tusk is not in a position to accept entries from runners who wish to use this event to fundraise for other charities.

We ask each competitor to raise a minimum of £1,000 for the event beneficiaries over and above the cost of entering the event. Tusk Trust is registered with www.virginmoneygiving.com and www.crowdrise.com both online charity fundraising websites which allow you to create a sponsorship form that your friends can easily access and donate to knowing their money is going direct to this cause.